Area's future in fossil fuels, Xcel says
Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News
Published May 19, 2007 at midnight
Xcel Energy has no plans to build a nuclear power plant in Colorado, spokesman Mark Stutz said.
Years ago, the state had a nuclear plant at Fort St. Vrain, surrounded by farmlands 35 miles north of Denver, but that plant was shuttered in 1989.
Xcel later converted the facility into a natural-gas-fired plant in 2001. It now produces more than 700 megawatts of electricity. One megawatt serves the average electricity needs of 1,000 homes.
"There are no plans on our books to pursue nuclear power at this time," Stutz said. "Given our abundance and proximity to fossil fuel including coal and natural gas, and the fact that we are blessed with a lot of wind and sun for renewable energy, new nuclear power would not be in our future portfolio mix in Colorado."
However, Xcel owns two nuclear power plants in Minnesota that produce up to 1,700 megawatts of electricity.
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